Course 101

Biblical Exegesis I

Content

and

Context

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

We have stated the Exegesis means

“exposition or explanation.” Biblical exegesis

is the process which involves the examination

of a particular text of scripture in order to

properly interpret it. Exegesis is a part of the

process of hermeneutics, the science of

interpretation that endeavor to discover the

historical meaning of the biblical.

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

1. What did the biblical author mean?

Meaning what was the content. What

is contained in the words themselves?

What do the words express?

i.e. what is the subject or the topic?

Content and ContextExegesis therefore answers the

following questions:

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

2. And also why did the author say what he said?

Meaning what was the literary context.

What was it that the author intended his

original reader to understand? Literal context

is primarily concerned with the intentionality

of the author messages to the original hearer.

Content and Context

Exegesis therefore answers the following question:

Content and Context

•Content demands that we study the

grammatical meaning of the writing thus driving

us the true discovery the meaning of the writing.

•Context demands the study of the reason

behind the author’s meaning for the writing thus

driving us the historical intent of the author to

the original hearer.

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

Question: "Why is it important to study theBible in context? What is wrongwith taking verses out of context?"

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Answer: It's important to study Bible passagesand stories within their context.Taking verses out of context leads toall kinds of error and misunderstanding

Content and Context

Understanding context begins with four principles:

1. Literal: Meaning what it says…2. Historical: Or the setting or the events of the story.To whom is it addressed, and how it wasunderstood at that time…

3. Grammatical: The immediate sentence andparagraph withinwhichawordor phrase is found…

4. Synthesis: Comparing your passagewith otherparts of Scripture for a fuller meaning...

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

•Context is crucial to biblical exegesis in that it is

one of its most important fundamentals. After

we account for the literal, historical, and

grammatical nature of a passage, we must then

focus on the outline and structure of the book,

then the chapter, then the paragraph. All of

these things refer to "context."

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

•Taking phrases and verses out of context

always leads to misunderstanding. For instance,

taking the phrase "God is love” (1 John 4:7-16) out

of its context, we might come away thinking that

our God loves everything and everyone at all

times with a gushing, romantic love.

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

•But in its literal and grammatical context, “love”here (1 John 4:7-16) refers to agape love, the essenceof which is sacrifice for the benefit of another, not asentimental, romantic love.

• The historical context is also crucial, becauseJohn was addressing believers in the first centurychurch and instructing them not on God’s love perse, but on how to identify true believers from falseprofessors.

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

• True love – the sacrificial, beneficial kind – is

the mark of the true believer (1 John 4:7), those

who do not love do not belong to God (1 John 4:8),

God loved us before we loved Him (1 John 4:9-

10), and all of this is why we should love one

another and thereby prove that we are His (1

John 4:11-12).

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

• Furthermore, considering the phrase "God is

love" in the context of all of Scripture

(synthesis) will keep us from coming to the

false, and all-too-common, conclusion that God

is only love or that His love is greater than all

His other attributes, which is simply not the

case.

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

•We know from many other passages that God

is also holy and righteous, faithful and

trustworthy, graceful and merciful, kind and

compassionate, omnipotent, omnipresent and

omniscient, and many, many other things. We

also know from other passages that God not

only loves, but He also hates.

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

•The Bible is the Word of God, literally "God-

breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16), and we are

commanded to ready, study, and understand it

through the use of good Bible study methods

and always with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

to guide us (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

•Our study is greatly enhanced by maintainingdiligence in the use of context because it is quiteeasy come to wrong conclusions by takingphrases and verses out of context. It is notdifficult to point out places that seeminglycontradict other portions of Scripture, but if wecarefully look at their context and use theentirety of Scripture as a reference, we canunderstand the meaning of a passage.

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I

Content and Context

•“Context is king” context drives us to the true

meaning! To ignore context is to put ourselves at

a tremendous disadvantage.

Course 101: Biblical Exegesis I